Love Heals
by OhShizNit
Summary: Can Angel and Collins figure out that love is worth fighting for?


**Title:** Love Heals  
**Author:** Emmy  
**Feedback: **is lovely  
**Words: **6103  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Genre:** Angst  
**Pairing:** Angel/Collins, mentions Roger/Mimi  
**Summary:** Can Angel and Collins figure out that love is worth fighting for?  
**Notes:** None  
**Special Thanks:** Chloe  
**Warnings:** Angel/ Collins angst!  
**Disclaimer:** Do I look like Jonathan Larson to you?

Mimi could hear something ringing. She stirred herself from her sleep enough to realize it was the phone. Checking the clock, she saw that it was almost one in the morning. Who the hell was calling so late...or so early? "Roger get the phone." No response. She nudged him with her foot and he still didn't wake up. Finally she kicked him. "Roger!"

"What?!" Roger snapped at her.

"Answer the phone!"

"Why? Can't you do it?" Roger sighed. What was wrong with her? Kicking him while he was sleeping. **O**bviously her legs weren't broken so she should be able to get up and answer the damn phone herself!

"I don't actually live here. You do."

Roger glared at her sleeping form. Damn her and her stupid logic. He dragged himself out of bed and glared at her one last time. "I really think I might hate you sometimes."

Mimi curled up with her pillow and smiled. "No, you know you love me."

Roger ran into the living room right before the answering machine picked up. "Whoever the hell you are, this better be good," he muttered sleepily into the phone.

"_Roger? Is Mimi there?_" Angel asked him. He immediately felt bad about snapping at her. She sounded terrible, as if she had been crying for three days straight.

"Uh yeah...hold on Angel. I'll get her for you...uh are you ok?" he awkwardly inquired. Even though they weren't the closest of the Bohemians, he was still concerned about her.

"_I'm fine. Just please get Mimi,_" Angel answered with a raspy voice.

"Uh…sure." He set the phone down and headed back into the bedroom. He kneeled on the bed and gently shook Mimi awake.

"Whoisitandwaddatheywant?" Mimi yawned as she sat up.

"It's Angel. She sounds really upset." Mimi was suddenly wide awake and half way out of bed. She dashed to the phone and picked it up.

"Hey**, c**hica. What's wrong?"

"_Sorry for waking you up so late. I just really needed to talk to you_," Angel whispered into the phone.

"No problem honey. You know I've always got an ear for you. You wanna tell me what's wrong?"

"_Actually, I was wondering if it would be ok for me to come over there?_"

"Sure, although Roger and Mark are sleeping, so I'll meet you down in my apartment. You still have your key, right?"

"_No, I'll knock. I'll see you in ten minutes. Thanks_****_ Meems_."

"Anytime. See you in ten."

Mimi hung the phone up and headed back into the bedroom. Roger had already fallen back asleep and she sat down on the bed. He must have felt the bed move because Roger opened his eyes and rolled over to look at her. "So how is she?"

"I don't know. She's coming over and I'm gonna talk to her. I'm going to go down to my place. I might be back later though. Love you." She leaned over and kissed him before pulling one of his old sweatshirts on and slipping into his old plaid pants.

"M'kay. I hope she gets whatever it is sorted out. Love you too." He rolled back over and went back to sleep.

Mimi silently slipped out of the loft and headed down to her apartment. Figuring that Angel would be upset, she placed a box of tissues, a pack of cigarettes, and the largest box of chocolate she had on the table in front of the couch. She was placing two mugs of tea on the table when she heard Angel knock on the door. Rubbing her palms on Roger's pants, Mimi mentally prepared herself for super best friend comforting mode.

She bounced over to the door and threw it open, revealing a shocking sight. Angel was a disaster! Her eyes were red and puffy from where she had been crying and her mascara and eyeliner were smeared. Her pale blue shirt was wrinkled and sported tear stains. The indigo skirt she was wearing had a smear of dirt on it and her purple tights had a long tear in them. There was a long, nasty scrape along her left arm and she had a split lip. All of these things contributed to the appearance on her being a mess, but the thing that struck Mimi the hardest was the despair she saw in her best friends eyes. She opened her arms to her and Angel fell into them sobbing. Mimi held Angel and led her over to the couch and sat down with her. Still holding Angel, she rubbed her back and soothed her.

"Shhhh honey, it's okay. It's okay."

Angel sat back and looked at Mimi and then noticed the tissues, cigarettes, chocolate, and mugs of tea. "Oh Mimi, you shouldn't have gone to all this trouble."

"You would have done the same for me. Now have some tea," Mimi handed Angel a lime green mug "And tell me what happened."

Angel gladly took the tea and took a sip of it. Setting it down, she grabbed the tissue box and placed it in her lap. She took a sigh and began, "It's really kind of silly. It's really all my fault. I mean I shouldn't have yelled at him." The story spilled from Angel and Mimi listened eagerly.

_Angel slammed the front door shut and tossed her pickle tub in the chair by the door. It tipped on its side and her drumsticks fell out on the floor._

_"Angel_****_ are you home?" she heard Collins call from the kitchen._

_"Yeah. I'll be there in a minute," she grumbled as she trudged into the bedroom and into the bathroom, making sure to lock the door behind her. She grabbed some cotton balls from under the sink and pressed them to her lip to staunch the trickle of blood. Damn skinheads had gotten her pretty good before she'd been able to get away. She pulled her shirt off and looked at herself in the mirror. Twisting around, she could see a bruise forming over the back of her ribs from where they'd kicked her. She winced as she gently touched the sore skin. That would definitely hurt in the morning. _

_She reached under the sink again and pulled out a bottle of mercurochrome and dampened some cotton balls with the liquid. She held back tears as she swabbed the ugly scrape along her arm from where she'd tripped and fallen. They'd almost gotten her then, but she'd been lucky enough to have been wearing her black pumps. She'd kicked the leader between the legs and the other two had backed away. After that, they'd let her go. _

_Not paying attention to what she was doing, she knocked a bottle of hairspray over and it clattered to the floor. "Shit!" She leaned over to pick it up, but stopped half way down when she heard a knock on the door._

_"Angel? Are you okay? You've been in there for awhile," Collins called from the opposite side of the door._

_"Uh...I'm fine! Just fixing my hair_****_" she answered quickly. She could NOT have him coming in here and seeing her like this! He'd want to ask her questions_****_ and all she wanted to do was forget about it. _

_"You sounded kinda pissed when you came in," he pointed out, as if he didn't believe she was fine. She loved him, but she wished he would go away._

_"I'm fine!" she answered again._

_"Are you sure?"_

_"I said I was fine!" she snapped at him, even though she didn't mean to._

_There was a moment's pause before he answered, "Well_****_ no need to get so defensive about it."_

_"I'm not getting defensive! I said I was fine! I've just had a really rough day_****_ and I'm not in the mood to play Twenty Questions right now!"_

_"Well_****_ that's no reason for you take it out on me!" Collins answered, his voice getting higher as his temper mounted._

_"I'm not! You asked if I was fine. I said I was fine! You asked AGAIN and I said that I was fine! Then a third time! Excuse me for getting a little testy when someone keeps on asking me the same damn question!"_

_"And excuse me for being in love with you and wanting to make sure you're okay! I guess that must be some kind of crime; caring about someone you love!"_

_"Oh_****_ stop it Collins! I really, really am not in the mood for it!" _

_"Bullshit_****_ Angel! You're not the only one who has had a bad day!"_

_All Angel could do was snort at that remark. _

_"Yeah, that's right Angel. There are other people in the world who have problems too! You're not the only one who has to go out and face the big bad world!"_

_"I'm not one of your students_****_ Collins! So don't you dare lecture me!"_

_"From the way you're acting, you could use a lecture. Some of my eighteen year old students have more common sense than you're using right now!"_

_"Well_****_ then why don't you go and date one of them? Hmm?"_

_"Because for some reason that I'm trying to remember right now, I fell in love with you! That means that even when you're acting like a downright bitch, like you are right now, I put up with it! And when you act upset, I ask you what is wrong and try to comfort you. I put up with all of it even when I've had a really lousy day myself! Today I got the results of the midterms that I gave last week. Twenty-three of my students passed it. Twenty-three! That means that one hundred and thirty-two of my students failed! They failed! I'm in deep shit with the school board right now_****_ and I have a lot of angry parents breathing down my neck. So you are not the only one who has had a bad day_****_ Angel!"_

_That bastard! Angel grabbed her shirt and pulled it back on. She unlocked the door and threw it open to see a very angry Collins. His jaw dropped when he took in the sight of her battered and bruised face and various scrapes. "Really, Collins? Because compared to my day, that sounds like a walk in the park! Let's see, what happened to me today? Oh yeah! I got called a bunch of slurs like 'faggot fairy' and got told that I deserved to die and that I would burn in hell for the rest of eternity. Then I got the shit beaten out of me! They took my bag that had all of my money in it_****_ and the locket that my grandmother left me! Then I had to come home and get questioned by someone who is supposed to care about me! So I'd be more than happy to trade with you!"_

_She stopped her rant and looked up at him, her body heaving with anger. Her eyes glared at him and bore holes into him. His face dropped and she could see the regret on his face. "I'm sorry_****_ Angel. I didn't know." _

_He reached out and took her in his arms and gently kissed her. She automatically responded, but then pushed him away. "No_****_ you damn well didn't know!"_

_"Angel..." _**_H_**_e reached out to touch her, but she jerked away from him. He stared at her for a minute and then said helplessly, "Baby, don't do this to me."_

_"Do what to you?" she snapped back at him._

_"Shut me out like this. I said I was sorry." She had turned away from him and he went up and placed his arms around her waist, but she remained rigid against him. After she refused to respond to him, he pulled away from her and took a defensive stance and practically growled, "_**_W_**_ell_****_ it's not like you told me_****_ anyway. How the hell am I supposed to know if you don't tell me?"_

_She whirled around to face him and shouted at him, "Why would I tell you? There's nothing that you could do about it! I just wanted to forget about it! And I didn't want you seeing me like this! I'm all dirty and cut up and bleeding! Why on earth would I want you to see me looking like this?"_

_"Because we're supposed to share things with each other. It's called trust! I want to know when bad things happen so that I can be there to comfort you and let you know that no matter what happens, I'm there for you and we'll get through it together. And no matter what you look like, I'll always think you're beautiful. Dirty, cut up, bruised, bleeding, angry, happy, laughing, moody, covered in mud, I still think you're the most beautiful person in the world."_

_"Flattery won't work this time_****_ Tom_****_" _**_S_**_he glared at him. There was a second of silence as he processed what she had said. They could both feel the tension between them, taught and angry. She continued to glare at him._

_He finally said, his voice icy cold, "I wasn't trying to flatter you. You don't deserve flattery right now. You know why? Because you ARE ACTING LIKE A BITCH!" His voice rose higher with every word and he was finally shouting at her._

_She matched him in tone and anger. "Well_****_ if I'm such a bitch, why are you bothering with me?" _

_"I was just asking myself the same question!"_

_"Fine_****_ then! Go! Get yourself someone who isn't a bitch! Find yourself a perfect little boyfriend who has happy days all the time and is sunshine and roses!"_

_"Maybe I will!"_

_"Fine! Go! Get out! It's done! We're over!"_

_Collins stepped back as if she had slapped him. "You...you don't mean that."_

_"Yeah, yeah I do. It's over."_

_"You're upset Angel. You're not thinking clearly, baby. We can't be over. I mean...it's you and me. We're perfect together. Sure, we're having a fight, but it doesn't mean we have to break up."_

_"I mean it. We're done."_

_He stared at her for a minute before his face become hard as stone. "Fine. You want us to be over? We're over. I'll get out, but I want you to know that once I'm out that door, we really are done and it'll be on your hands. You're the one who ended it_****_ and don't you dare come begging me to come back."_

_She simply glared at him and he turned and walked to the door. He paused in the doorway and turned to look at her. "Last chance_****_ baby."_

_"Don't call me _****_baby_****_. I'm not your baby anymore."_

_"Suit yourself." With that he slammed the door behind him. She stared at the door where he had just been standing. Suddenly, without his presence there, the full weight of what she had just done came crashing down on her. Had she really just broken up with Collins? _

_Then the tears came. First it was just one or two drops of water in the corner of her eyes, but then they came pouring down her face in torrents. Sobbing, she sank to the ground and cradled her head in her hands. How could she be so stupid?! She'd been angry when she said those things to him and she didn't really mean them. She loved him and he'd just been trying to help. She'd just let him leave and hadn't even tried to stop him. All of the sudden, an idea came to her. Maybe he'd regretted leaving and was waiting for her in the hallway. She scrambled to her feet and ran to the door and threw it open. "Collins?!" No answer. _

_Sobbing, she went back into her apartment and sat on the couch. He'd just gone out for a breath of air to clear his thoughts and anger. He'd be back. He had to come back. _

_Angel sat on the couch and cried for hours, waiting for him to come back. Finally, she cried herself to sleep. Two hours later, she woke up and stretched out on the couch. As her mind returned from the edge of sleep, she wondered why Collins's warmth wasn't pressed up against _**_her_**_. "Collins?" she called out for him. As she sat up and looked for him, it hit her like a ton of bricks why he wasn't there. The fresh tears started to pour. She had just made the biggest mistake of her life and it had cost her the love of her life. Checking the clock, she saw that it was twenty until one. Collins wasn't coming back. She knew there was no way that she would be able to go back into the bedroom and sleep in their bed. The bed that they had spent many a night lying awake talking about senseless little things. The same bed that they had first consummated their love in and had made love in countless times. The same bed that still smelled like him. Their bed._

_Her eyes landed on a picture on the table by the door. It was one of her and Mimi that had been taken by Mark at the Life Café. Mimi. She would call Mimi and tell her what had happened. Mimi would know exactly what to do. She reached for the phone and dialed the number for the loft. She knew Mimi wouldn't mind her calling this late with an emergency. Roger and Mark might have a problem with it, but she really didn't care about them at the moment. Just as the voicemail was about to pick up, she heard the sleep drenched voice of Roger answer, "_"_Whoever the hell you are, this better be good." _

"And that's what happened," Angel sniffled as she took a drag off of the cigarette dangling from her fingers. Telling the entire story to Mimi had taken the entire box of tissues, all of the chocolates, and half of the cigarettes between the two of them.

"What are you gonna do honey?" Mimi inquired of her.

Angel sighed and then half moaned, "What is there that I can do? I mean he made it quite clear that once he left, it was over. It's not exactly as if I can go up to him and be like 'I'm sorry Collins. I made a big mistake. Let's go have make up sex.'"

Mimi closed her eyes and grimaced at Angel. "Too much information chica. But I think you both made mistakes, and he's gotta realize that. I'm sure you two can work things out. I mean, you two love each other. Focus on that, and the rest will fix itself."

"I'm not sure Meems! I mean if we're so weak that we let a silly little argument split us up, is there even enough there to save? Are we even strong enough to repair ourselves and is it even worth it? What happens next time we get in a fight? Do we just say 'oh well. We tried to fix it and it didn't work. Too bad.' I mean, love isn't everything it's cracked up to be. It's hard and if we don't trust each other, how can we ever make it work? Does he even want to make it work? Do _I_ even want to make it work? Well of course I do, but is there even anything worth making it work? If love is so great-"

"SHUT UP ANGEL!" Mimi interrupted Angel with a shout. Angel immediately quieted down and looked at Mimi with a surprised look on her face. Did Mimi just tell her to shut up?

"Yes Angel, I just told you to shut up. Get over it," Mimi read Angel's mind and stubbed out her cigarette before continuing. "Who are you? Because you obviously aren't my best friend, Angel. My Angel knows as well as I do that love is everything it's cracked up to be. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And if you don't know that, then you don't deserve Collins."

Angel stared at Mimi in shock. Mimi was absolutely right. Love _was_ worth fighting. No matter how bad things got, if you had love, things would always work out. As a realization hit Angel, she let out a wail of despair. "I know, but it's too late! Collins is gone! There's no way I can fix this. I messed up so badly Mimi!"

Mimi leaned over and wrapped her arms around Angel and held her. "Don't worry Angel. We'll figure something out. You'll get him back."

Angel sat back and held back a sniffle. "Thanks Meems."

"You wanna stay here for the night? I don't want you going back to your apartment until you've calmed down a bit, k? I'll stay down here with you."

"Thanks honey, but that rocker of yours is going to get awfully cold in bed without you. I'll stay down here by myself." Mimi started to protest that she didn't mind staying with Angel, but Angel stopped her before she said anything. "I'll be fine, chica."

"Alright, but come get me if you wanna talk or whatever."

"Will do Meems. You mind if I snag your shower? I feel like shit."

"Go ahead."

"Thanks" Angel sounded as if she were about to say something, and after an eyebrow raise from Mimi, she blurted out, "I just feel so useless without him!"

"Angel, as much as you might love him, you don't need him. You can survive on your own without him, you just don't want to and that's understandable. You love him."

"I do."

"I know you do. Well if you don't need me, I'm gonna go back to bed. Love you girl."

"Love you too Mimi."

Mimi pecked Angel on the cheek before turning to go back upstairs.

After she took a shower, Angel slipped into a pair of pajamas she kept at Mimi's and crawled into bed. As she lay in that bed all by herself, she thought about what Mimi had said about not needing Collins. Just as she slipped into a fitful sleep, one last thought crossed Angel's mind. "I do need him."

The next morning, Angel woke up to Mimi bouncing on the bed next to her. "Angel! Wake up!"

"Wha...?" Angel groaned as she blocked the sunshine and Mimi's chirping voice out with the pillow.

"Are you gonna sleep the day away? C'mon! Get up!"

"What time is it?"

"Uh…" Mimi checked the clock. "Ten in the morning! Get up! We're going out to brunch at the Life!"

"Ten in the morning? Mimi have you lost your mind? I've just lost Collins and I really do not feel like 'going out to brunch' at the moment. Please just let me wallow in my misery for a little bit longer." Angel yanked the covers up over her head and groaned.

"Fine Angel. I really didn't want to have to resort to this, but you leave me no choice." With that said Mimi crawled on top of Angel and straddled her thighs. She paused for a second or two for Angel to get up and then began to furiously tickle her. Angel shrieked loudly and began to squirm beneath Mimi. As Mimi tickled her harder, she screamed louder and finally jerked so roughly under Mimi's fingers that they both went tumbling to the floor. They lay there breathless for a moment. Mimi rested her head on Angel's chest and finally looked up at her. "So are you up?"

"Yes Mimi! I am up dammit!" Angel laughed. It felt good to laugh.

"Good! You can borrow some of my clothes." Angel gave Mimi a look and Mimi mock sighed. "Fine! You can borrow some of my clothes AND my makeup! Now hurry up so we can go!" She ran back out into the kitchen to let Angel change.

Angel rummaged through Mimi's closet trying to find something cute to wear and thought about Collins. Would she be able to fix things with him or was the fight they had last night too disastrous? As similar thoughts ran through her head, her eyes landed upon it, hung up in the back of the closet. It was her white skirt with the flowers all over it. She'd forgotten that she had loaned it to Mimi and that Mimi had forgotten to return it. It was the outfit she'd been wearing when she and Collins fell in love. She realized that she could either be strong right now or start crying and never stop. She chose to be strong. Slipping a pair of pink tights on and then putting the skirt on, she felt better. She would be alright after all.

Fifteen minutes later, she exited the bathroom with her makeup and outfit perfected. Mimi looked up at her from where she'd been sitting at the table and gave a small gasp when she saw what Angel was wearing, but didn't say anything when she saw the determination in Angel's eyes.

"You ready to go Angel?"

"Yeah Mimi. I'm ready." They both heard the deeper meaning in her words.

"Ok, but first we have to go up to the loft so I can tell Roger goodbye," Mimi stood up and lead Angel into the hallway and then locked her door. They headed up to the loft and Mimi kissed Roger goodbye and told him that she'd be back later. Just as Angel and Mimi were fixing to head out, the phone rang.

"SPEEEEAK."

"_Hey guys. It's me...Collins. Umm...could you pick up?"_

No one picked up the phone. They were all watching Angel as she stared at the phone as if it were Collins himself. It was him...it was so good to hear his voice again.

"_Ok...I guess you're not home. Look, could you give me a call when you get in? I really need to take to one of you guys. And if you see Angel around, can you let me know? Bye."_

Neither Roger nor Mimi dared to move. They wanted to see what Angel's reaction would be. Finally after Angel continued to stare at the phone, Mimi ventured to ask, "Angel are you ok?"

Angel snapped her head to look at Mimi. "Of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? Let's go to the Life."

"Ok Ang. See you later Rog."

Angel and Mimi pulled out their chairs and took their seats at the Life Café. It was pretty crowded that morning and they had been lucky to find a table.

"So how are you holding up chica?" Mimi lowered her voice and leaned closer across the table so that Angel could hear her.

"Honestly Mimi? I'm fine, but I'm a disaster too. Everything I see reminds me of him. I just miss him so much!"

"Are you going to try and get back together with him?"

"First I have to find him and apologize to him for acting like such a bitch. Then I have to apologize for saying all those horrible things to him and for breaking up with him. I don't even know what possessed me to do something like that! I mean, I love him so much and I just don't know what to do without him."

"Stop girl. You love him, right?" Mimi was grinning at her.

"Yes. I love him more than I've ever loved anyone else. He's my other half and I'm just not whole without him." Angel sighed.

"Then I suggest you go over there and tell him" Mimi's grin got even bigger. Angel's eyes bugged out and she scanned the restaurant. Sure enough, Collins was sitting at a table on the other side of the room, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Holy shit! Mimi, I can't go over there! He probably hates me and never wants to see me again!" Angel grabbed a menu and hid behind it.

"Well you'll never find out if you don't go talk to him!" Mimi teased. She could see Angel shaking her head behind the menu. She sighed and stood up in her seat. Angel, realizing what Mimi was about to do, yanked on her skirt to get her to sit down.

"Don't you dare do it Mimi! I mean it!"

Mimi grinned at Angel wickedly. "You'll thank me for this later. COLLINS!" **s**he called out to the professor**. H**e looked up from where he had been contemplating the bottom of his coffee mug. His eyes met Angel's and held them for a few seconds before she broke the stare by looking down into her lap.

He cleared his throat, stood up and crossed to where Mimi and Angel were standing. "Hey Mimi." He hugged her and then looked down at Angel and his voice took on a sad tone. "Angel."

She looked up at him and replied weakly, "Hi Collins." They could both hear her voice waver and she had she had to clamp her hands between her thighs to keep them from shaking.

He smiled and turned to Mimi "**H**ey Mimi, do you think you could give us a minute?"

Mimi grinned and nodded. "Sure. I could use a smoke break anyway. I'll be outside." She turned and bounced outside, and Angel stared at her helplessly.

Collins took the seat across from her and their knees touched under the table. Angel blushed and Collins mumbled an apology, but he didn't move his leg and neither did she. They sat there for a minute in an uncomfortable silence as they both wondered how to start this particular conversation. Finally, Collins cleared his throat and commented, "I see you finally got your skirt back from Mimi. I'm glad. It looks really nice on you."

They both blushed at that comment and thought about the first time she had worn it. They had been so in love back then and so innocent. No ugly words had been spoken back then. No fights. No break ups. Just pure, innocent bliss.

Collins was pulled out of his reverie when he heard Angel sniff. He looked up at her and he saw a tear fall into her lap. He reached across the table and lifted her head. Tears were silently falling down her face and he gently wiped them away with his thumb. This only made her cry harder. "Angel. Oh...don't cry my sweet Angel."

"I can't help it. I messed things up so badly between us! I acted like such a bitch and I said horrible things to you. I ruined our relationship!"

"You're not the only one to blame. I knew you were having a bad day and I didn't give you space when you needed it. I'm just as much to blame as you are."

"But you were only trying to help! You were being so kind and sweet, and I just blew you off!" Angel continued to cry.

Collins stood up and went to the other side of the table so that he was sitting next to her. He wrapped his arm around her and she buried her head in his shoulder. "We both made mistakes Ang."

She looked up at him with a tear stained face and he wiped away all of her tears. She whispered to him, "Is there any hope for us Collins?"

He smiled at her, and she knew that everything would be ok. "I love you Angel. I'm sure we can fix ourselves."

"I love you too Collins."

"Well, that's really all that matters, now isn't it?" He chuckled and leaned down and softly kissed her. All of the emotions that they had felt over the past twelve hours; all of the heartache and pain was poured into that kiss. Angel sighed as she felt Collins tongue exploring hers and the kiss became more heated. What Mimi had said the previous night came back to her and she finally understood the truth of those words. Love is everything it's cracked up to be. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for.

They finally broke for air and Collins pressed his forehead against hers. "I think I like this much more than fighting."

She giggled and moved so that she was sitting in his lap. She leaned her head against his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her waist. She was suddenly uncomfortable as she felt something hard pressing into her side. She pulled back and frowned at him. "Collins there's something in your pocket that's poking me."

He reached into his pocket and wrapped his hand around something. As he realized what it was, his eyes widened and he grinned at her. "That's right! I forgot all about that! We were so busy fighting last night that I didn't get to tell you. Close your eyes."

Angel obliged and he reached around her shoulders and she could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck. Suddenly, she felt a familiar weight resting around her neck. Her eyes opened automatically and her hand flew up to feel her grandmother's locket resting around her throat. Tears sprung to her eyes. She thought she'd lost it forever. Turning to Collins, she asked, **"**Where did you find this? The clasp broke and I put it in my bag until I could get it fixed. How?"

"You never lost it. It must have fallen out of your bag before you left yesterday because I came home and it was under the table. I was going to give it back to you last night, but we...got a little side sidetracked."

"Thank you so much honey. I thought I'd lost it!" Angel fingered it and it suddenly occurred to her that the clasp wasn't broken anymore. "The clasp isn't broken!"

"Yeah...I went and got it fixed this morning. I thought that might help towards making it up to you. I knew it meant a lot to you and---" Collins admitted, but was then cut off as Angel pressed her mouth to his. She entangled her body with his and kissed him harder, enjoying the sensation of being with him again.

She pulled back and looked him in the eye. "Thank you baby. It means the world to me."

Collins was slightly breathless after that kiss and he just muttered, "I could tell."

They sat there peacefully, just being with each other. He had his arm wrapped around her, with his hand in her lap. He muttered sweet little things in her ear and she toyed with the class ring on his hand like she always did.

He pulled her closer and put his lips just behind her ear and whispered to her, "Baby."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing. It's just last night you told me not to call you that and I'm taking full advantage of it now."

"Go right on ahead" **S**he turned her head so that th**eir** faces were only inches apart and she purred, "You can take advantage of me all you want." She turned back around and he continued whispering in her ear.

"Honey."

"You're stealing my pet name for you now."

"Sweetheart."

"That's so sweet."

"My love."

"Mmmm...I like that one."

Angel and Collins were so involved with each other that they didn't notice Mimi until she came up to them and went, "AWWW! Now isn't that a Hallmark moment?" They glanced up at Mimi and Collins automatically took Angel's hand

"Shut it Mimi" Angel grinned as she leaned against Collins'**s** shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her.

"So are you two fixed now?" Mimi teased the two of them.

Angel and Collins looked at each other and then Angel replied, "Yeah, I'd say we are."

"Good. Now, since you don't need to cry and moan about your misfortunes to me anymore, I'm gonna head back to the loft. I owe Roger for leaving him last night. He's feeling neglected." Mimi rolled her eyes and turned to leave.

Angel snuggled up in Collins' arms. It was so good to have him back. Collins leaned over and kissed the top of her head and murmured into her hair, "I love you Angel."

"Mmmm, love you too," Angel practically purred.

Collins smiled and then abruptly stood up and brought Angel up with him. She looked around puzzled, as he pulled her to the door.

"What are you doing? Where are we going?"

He stopped and looked at her. Then he grabbed her and kissed her passionately. He pulled back and turned to leave, dragging her with him and she heard him say. "C'mon Angel. Time for major amounts of make up sex!"

All Angel could do was laugh.


End file.
